Valentino, Haute Couture, AW19, Paris.
While it was a first look of sunflower yellow that set the scene, it was the way that vibrant colours were used in combination that made the Valentino Haute Couture collection for Autumn-Winter 2019 particularly delicious. The collection was peppered with citrus shades, such as burnt orange, with splices of lime against purple trousers. Meanwhile, pinks were often offset by deep burgundy, rust or flashes of crimson to prevent the candy pinks looking too sugary.
As the garments layered up, or involved more panels in the Valentino collection, the colour combinations needed to be ever more carefully considered and balanced. For example, here coats were covered in detailed designs involving piecing together many different colours and textures of fabrics to create overall images. At times, the complicated colour arrangements were dealt with by having interesting groups of bright and muted shades that played off each other in different areas of the coat. For example, at times there might be one colour group playing off each other around the shoulder area, with other colour groups appearing only at the hem of the garment.
When using bold colour combinations in this way, one thing to consider is how the edge finishes and seam finishes are used. Notice that here there is no obvious topstitching or narrow trim in contrast colours. By keeping the edge finishes clean and seam finishes invisible, you don’t run the risk of having fiddly details detracting from the fullness of the colour. Where there is trim, it looks generously proportioned in a woolly fringe that extends off the edges of the coloured panels, rather than being a contrasting colour.
The styling, and even the model’s hair colour and complexion, are also important elements here – the extra pop of colour provided by shoes, gloves, or a swipe of glittery eye shadow acts to pull colours together where needed or to offset safer shades.
View images from the full collection of Valentino Haute Couture AW19 on Vogue.com»
